two work colleagues

Room to Grow: Removing barriers to training for people on universal credit

Read the report

The Work Foundation is the leading think tank for improving work in the UK. We have been an authoritative, independent source of ideas and analysis on the labour market and the wider economy for over a hundred years.

  • The new Prime Minister will inherit a challenging labour market as the cost of living crisis bites

    The latest labour market data continues to show a very mixed picture. While employment levels have increased, we are also seeing the biggest drop in real terms pay since 2001, employers struggling to recruit, and stubbornly high levels of economic inactivity due to long-term sickness.

  • Digital Boundaries and Disconnection at Work – A Guide for Employers

    This guide to digital boundaries and disconnection at work, produced jointly by the Work Foundation and Prospect, explores the implications of an 'always on' culture for businesses, teams and individuals, and lays out key principles to help employers develop their own approaches that support workers to fully disengage from work outside of core hours and when on leave.

  • Government misses key opportunity to strengthen worker rights

    The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) published a response to its employment status consultation, designed to understand if changes to the law were required in order to ensure everyone who is entitled to key employment rights and protections has access to them. While acknowledging the failings of the current system, Government has decided not to change it. This consultation represented a significant opportunity which now appears to have been missed.

  • “Unpaid minutes are a sign of the times”: financial insecurity in the gig economy

    The Covid-19 pandemic prompted a surge in demand for courier and food delivery services in the UK. However, gig work is highly financially insecure. Recent research from Lancaster University highlights how unpaid waiting time plays a significant role in lowering average earnings for bike couriers and suggests new avenues to shift power to couriers.

  • What can we learn from family businesses in a changing world?

    Family businesses employ 14 million people in the UK, accounting for roughly half of all private sector employment. And given how they are constituted and the longevity that many have enjoyed, they may also have lessons to teach us about how to be resilient to changes in the labour market and the economy more widely.

  • Addressing digital poverty in rural communities is vital for Levelling Up the UK

    These two briefings that set out the policy implications of research were undertaken to assess the drivers of digital poverty among rural communities in the North West of England, with recommendation set out both for regional and national policy makers.

Contact us
Sign up for our newsletter